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Why Are Murder Charges a Good Thing for Aaron Hernandez’s Card Values?

The situation with Aaron Hernandez is about as bad as it can get. Not only has he been arrested and held without bail, but he is also in consideration as a suspect in two additional murders from a few years ago. With someone as high profile as he is, you can imagine that its going to have huge impact on the value of his cards. Not only will the cards be affected, but there will be lots of people who want to take advantage of the fact that he has become embroiled in such a horrifying case.

Im not sure why, but people are infatuated with people of his ilk, even assigning extra value BECAUSE he is connected with this situation. I find this to be not only unusual but sad as well. The only comparison available is OJ Simpson, who was found innocent of two murders in one of the most famous court cases of all time. Although Simpson was acquitted, his guilt in the case led to settlements in a civil case and a series of truly unusual perceptions. Even after more jail time for another crime, his cards and his autograph still hold value.

Hernandez’s arraignment and disciplanary issues have become the norm for the NFL, even though these crimes are exponentially more heinous than the normal crimes we hear about. Its almost to the point where players are EXPECTED to have some sort of trouble during their career, which in some cases starts as early as the combine.

To be fair, O.J.’s cards–his earlier cards, anyway–“hold value” because he was a great and legendary player in a time before cards were considered collectibles and before cards were over-produced. The infamy came much later, long after his football career had ended. BUT the value those cards hold is nothing compared to the value they WOULD hold had the later events not occurred. Infamy brings a brief bump to card values as the looky-loos are drawn in by morbid curiosity, but, ultimately, the value of any such settles at a level below what they would otherwise carry as actual collectors have an “ew” factor and gag reflex about them. Still, you can’t complete a 1970 Topps Football set without OJ; there’s no way around that. Each such situation is different but, in the end, most cards settle below the value they would otherwise carry. Pete Rose, Barry Bonds, Ray Lewis, Dwight Gooden, Darryl Strawberry–none of these cards holds the value they would but for the infamy (notwithstanding that Rose cards are still pricey). The exception would be pre-war cards which will continue to carry high value–possibly higher value for infamy–due to their scarcity to begin with. Further, as the man was legally acquitted, writing about “his guilt in the case” is a bit dicey, legally. If it were me, I’d sue you for libel. Just sayin’.